Letter to the Editor: Dan Thayer for Lisa Pellegrini

The Town of Somers’ 1st Selectman, Lisa Pellegrini, is seeking reelection this November. I want to share with the residents of Somers my personal observations of her conduct and actions on behalf of the Town during these periods of emergency.

For several years, I served as the Town’s Emergency Management Director. This period included the storms of Late 2011 through the February blizzard of 2013.

In every incident, I observed Lisa Pellegrini working unceasingly for the citizens of Somers. She repeatedly took aggressive action to see that the results of these storms were addressed and corrected at the earliest possible moment. The advice of staff and the other Selectmen was always solicited, and her use of discussion and consensus-building has been key in the process of arriving at the Town’s best course of action.

Where shortfalls in emergency equipment and planning became evident, temporary measures were quickly instituted to fill these gaps. Later, these shortfalls were revisited and addressed. As a direct result of Ms. Pellegrini’s efforts, the following items have been addressed:

·      An improved Emergency Operations Center was created at the Kibbe-Fuller building;

·      A new Town-wide radio system was created to permit all Town agencies to communicate with one another;

·      A method of keeping citizens without power and telephone service informed of recovery efforts through the distribution of information flyers was created;

·      An emergency Town Meeting was conducted in the immediate aftermath of a disabling snow storm to apprise citizens of the current recovery status and future plans;

·      The Resident Troopers have been equipped with individual portable radios that operate on the Town’s radio frequencies;

·      Portable radios have been purchased for use by Town officials during emergencies;

·      The Resident Troopers’ office had a new emergency power generator installed;

·      In cooperation with the State, drills have been conducted to test the readiness of Somers emergency operations.

·      Shelter supplies have been relocated and upgraded, to permit easier access and deployment;

·      A radio communications system for use by emergency management workers has been created and equipped;

·      Contingency plans for the conduct of Town government and offices during and following an emergency have been instituted;

·      The Town’s unified command (1st Selectman, the Supt. Of School, and heads of  Fire, Police Public Works, Finance, and Emergency Management) is now brought together prior to anticipated incident and events, and is re-convened daily during an emergency;

·      All Town employees are now aware that their presence at work during an emergency is required. (Previous administrations permitted the employees to remain at home, with pay, if Town hall was closed). These employees now provide support to the Town recovery efforts during an emergency.

·      Replacement of a poor-performing Town-operated resident notification system that cost thousands of dollars each year with more effective systems that are provided free-of-charge.

Accomplishing all of this was not easy. In addition to the 18 hour work days during emergencies, these achievements have required a continuing commitment of town resources and funds by Ms. Pellegrini to make Somers as safe and prepared as possible.

Throughout, Ms. Pellegrini has been courteous, professional, and committed, and has shown great strength of character. These are difficult qualities to maintain when everything seems to be going wrong, and everyone is looking to you to make it right.

I strongly urge the voters of Somers to return Lisa Pellegrini to another term as their town’s 1st Selectman.

Dan Thayer

10 Colton Road

Somers CT 06071

Email cdthayer@snet.net